Op xwest n newton



R. V. COLLINS.

CONTACTOR.

APPucATloN FILED Nov.15. 1915.

1,322,879., Patented Nov. 25, 1919.

Invenor Roy V. Collins.

WAHM( M .TM

A'rTys COM'ANY, lorr wns'" Neutron, ,tnissncrinsnrms, A' CORPORATION orY Massai.

dnlrnorn."

ratenteanov; 255.1919.

' ,Newton, county of Middlesex, 'State of hereinafter set'forth.

parts.

Massachusetts, have inventedv anli'nprovefment in'Contactors,1of which'the following description, in connection with'the accofm'f panying drawing, p is a speciicatiomlike' characterson the drawing representinglilre This invention relates tov conta'etors l` such as are f usedVV lin' connection with" theV trolley wire in an electric* block? signal systemfor closing acircuitof the signalfsystemgwhenl ever' the trolley Vof an electric car` passes by the contacto'r during the 'movement' of the' car, andparti'c'ularly' toy contactors of that typ'e in which the trolley wire 'is secured-to a contact-actuating member, whichV in 'turn is movabl'y mounted'in a supporting mentk berthat is carried'by the usual span wires, and a 'spring isV interposed 'between the actuating member andthe supportinglmember, which spring normally has insufficient strength to support'the weight'of'the trolleywire.4 In contactors' of this typeV the weight of the trolley wire holds-'normally the/actu-A atingmember in its lowermostposition, but when a trolley passes along under the' trolley wire, the liftingY force of the trolley hel-peto sustain the trolley wire' and relieves the spring of the contactor ofsuiiicient'weight so that said spring operatesV toA move ythe act-uating member relative to theV oasing,1thisV movement being made'usefof to'close th'e contact ofthesignalingj'circuit. v

Amongrthe obj ectsl-of the inventionare" toV provide l aVv contacter ofl vthis 'type' having' novel circuit'closing meansbyY which two co'ntact'swill be made" successively andia predetermined ,timel interval or acontact maybe made" and broken in" a predetermined time relation'regardless-oil the lspee'dat which the trolley ,may-` be movingaloiigthe trolley wire, and otherwiseito''impro'vecork tactorsof vthis typeQall" as will bel more fully I In order' togive an- `nnderstand'ing 'of "my invention;l T li have "illustrated in tlf i draw# ings a Select'edf einbodirnettherof *which will now be described,";after'wliclf'the novel featureswil-l bepointedout inthe 'appended claims# Y j y body'ingrmyinvention, said tigureshowing the 'device:partly inYV section Fig: Qiis' an 'end view ofiFig- 1Q lfindicatesf a` portion of the trolley wire whichvis secured to the usual shoe or ear2 by'fwhich it isjsu'spen'ded.'w My'improved contactor' is associated with the suspending` provided with means'to limit the downward movement of thel aetuatingmember relative `tofthe casing.V In' the construction herein shown, thisactu'ating niember'v is provided with ahead 7 which is adapted toy rest yon a shoulder' 8 formed in the casing se 'that when the'y parts are inthe normal position, the weight ofthe'trolley wire is transmitted to the casing through the actuating member 6,' head 7 and "shoulder 8. 9 designates a spring which v'surrounds the actuating member 6 and 'bears'atits `upper end againstthe he'ad and'atitsflower end against ka collar 10.l This springl 9 has a 'strength insufficient to supportthe'weight'of the trolley wirel and sh'oe 2, sorv that under normal conditions, the'he'ad 7 willrest against the' shoulderS, When thel trollyyv passes underneath" the trolley' wire',i'the upward` pressure of the trolley?against'ithe wire willsustainpart of the weight of the latterl Theltension or strength'of the springl9isfso adjusted' that said springlwill support the portion of the weight of :the trolley wire lwhichfv is" not sus-` tained 'passingtrolleyi Tov illustrate, if 'it is assumed that fthe weight 'of' the trolley wireat thecon'tactor is orty pounds :andthe springe!) :is adjusted'to sustainv thirty pounds only, itwill be" seen that the fortypound weight'` will` overcome they thirty'l pounds pressure ofthe spring sethat th'ehead 7 fwill seat against'tlrefshoulder 8; lLIhovv'e'ver,v the passingftrolley provides 'an upward pressure against the""trolleygffV wirez of fifteen pounds, thentlie sprin`g`9 will more than Vbalance the remaining 'wight '10i the trolley wire and close another, depending on the character. ofy

This upward `movementofthe actuating di sion of the spring 9 'so as to give it a load-V supporting power having the proper relation to the weight of the` trolley Vwire. In order that the device may operate properly,

lit is essentialthat the resistance ,or strengthy of the 'spring 9 bea predetermined proportion ofthe'entire-weight of the trolleywire, for if the spring hasa fixed resistance and there should be anyy change'in the weight of Vthe trolley wire, then the spring would not properly operate. I have provideda spring which is capable of adjustment bymaking the collar 10 adjustable Vinthe vcasing 3. This can easily be Vaccomplished* by merely screwfthreading the collarjinto the casing, as shown.V The adjusting of the collar up or down will 'vary the. resisting power of the spring, and-this construction makes it possible to adjust the spring tothe proper tension afterthe device isinstalled and the weight of the trolley wire is determined.

The particular form of contactwhich is closed by the actuating member 6 may` vary and will depend somewhat on the' character of the signal system with which the device is used. A' simple construction is'herein shown in which the actuating member 6 is provided at its upper end with two arms or vprojections 13 and 14 between which is rel ceived a contact member 11 pivoted to the v *supporting member 3.at 12, and Awhich I will -refer to as a ,circuit-closing contact. This circuit-closing contactis constructed to close Vthe contacts ofthe circuit when it.'` is moved upwardly bythe actuating member 6j The movement of the circuit-closing contact member 11 may beused simply to closev a single circuit,or may be used to yclose aplu'! rality of circuits, or to open one circuit andl the signal Ysystemwith which thedevice is used. In the illustrated embodiment^ ofmy invention, the upward movement o-f thecon# tactmemberll is arranged to close two cir'- cuits in successionV and in predeterminedv timed. relation, regardless of the vspeedat which the actuating member 6 is moved., Y v15 and 16'indicatetwospring contacts which are suitably secured to a stand 17 ris-VA ing from the supporting member 3, said con-V Y tacts 15 and '16 being insulated from the stand and connected to thecircuit wiresvlS andV 19 leading to the` signal mechanism.

Each Vcontact isr provided with` the AV-'shaped nose or end, the V-shapedend of the contact 15 being indicated at- 20and that of thecontact 16 at 21'. The end. 20 isprovided` with the Section 22 of insulation onone side of the vana the and' 2a4 is' Si'niiigtiyg provided ,with

La section of insulation 23k on the' opposite side of the V. 'Ihese'contacts are arranged vclosely adjacent to 'eachi other, but are insuf lated from `each other and are normallyv situatedV so that the end of the circuit-closing I Contact member 11 lies below the V-shaped end 20 of the member 15. The circuit-closingcontact member 11 is in electricalc'onnection with the trolley wire V1 and when it is swung upwardly by the upwardl'movement of the actuator .6, it -will come infcon'` tact and wipe over the insulated portion 22 `of the contact 15,'thereby ,Y forcing the contact 15 backwardly. Asv theV contact 11' passes thea ex ofthe end 20 and moves l downthesi ex25of the'V, the circuit 18k will be clos'ed'through the contactj 151 and contact 11. Assoon as theCO'ntact 11 Vpasses the apex of the-endf20, the lresiliency ofthe V51,5 contact 15v will 'tend to moveit forwardly, thusvforcing the contactmember v11 down theY .incline 25 and 'into engagementwith the inc- V clinedface 26 of'the'contact 16.; When the contact elementV engages the*V `facey26V ofv theVv 90 contact l16,'thenjthe circuit 191will ybe con'-v nected tothe; trolley `wire, throughV the conf*k 'tacts 11 and 16. The projections 13 and-14;

are suiiiciently separatedk soastov allow thel Y contact 11`to have Va certain amount of loose 95 play, andasa result, when the Contact 1l, Y passes the apeXLof the end 20, the resiliencyv of the contact 15 will cause said Contact 11 to Y move rapidlyl down theinclinedgface 25 into' Vengagement with the., face 26, thus succes 100 sively -closing the circuits* 18 and 19. The loose play provided for the contact 11-beL- tween the projections 13 and 14 permits .this rapid movement of the Contact element down thesurface 25yandonto the :surface 26, ref 105 f gardless of the speed at whichlthe actuator 6 is moving, and the two circuits 18`and 19.V will, therefore, be always closed successively and in predetermined timed relationwithoutfregard to the speed at which vthe actuator isbeing operated.V Y f ,It sometimes happens `that theftrolley wirej l will be given a longitudinal Ymovement relative tothe contacter dueftounequal eXpanV sion orlcontraction of the-wire or unequal c tensionf therein.` .In order to provide for. l such longitudinal movement of the trolley Y wire without affecting 'the operation of .the contactor, I propose 'to` provide a connection between. the ear or lshoe 2 and the actuating 12u Vmember 6V which will permit of such longituTv dinal movement of the wire.. y The actuator 6 is shown as provided atvits lower end with-a forked lhead 28, betweenthe' forks of. which is a head 29 of a connection. 30 that/.is 125 Y longitudinalivmoveinent gf ,the ltrolley wirelw without interfering with the normal operation of the device. j

While the construction herein shown is one adapted to close two circuits in predetermined time relation, yet it will be obvious that the same mechanism might be used for opening one circuit and then closing another circuit in predetermined relation, this involving nothing more than ordinary wiring changes.

Further, it will be understood that while I have illustrated a selected embodimentY of my invention I do not wish to be limited to the constructional features shown.

I claim:

1. In a contactor, the combination with a supporting member having means for suspending it, of an actuating member movably sustained by the supporting member and from which the trolley wire is sustained, said actuating member having two opposed projections, a spring interposed between the actuating member and the supporting member, a contact member secured to the supporting member, and a second contact member pivoted to the supporting member and extending between said projections.

2. In a contactor, the combination with a supporting member having means for suspending it, of an actuating member movably mounted in the contact member and fromwhich the trolley wire is sustained, said actuating member having two opposed projections, a spring interposed between the supporting member and the actuating member, two contact members secured to the supporting member, a circuit-closing contact pivotally connected to the supporting member and extending between said projections, said two contact members being situated so that movement of the actuator causes the circuit-closing contact to engage them suc cessively.

3. In a contactor, the combination with a supportin member, of an actuating member mova ly mounted in the supporting member, a spring interposed between the actuating member and the supporting member, two contacts carried by the supporting member, a circuit-closing contact actuated by movement of the actuating member relative to the supporting member and adapted to engage the two contacts successively.

4. In a contactor, the combination with a trolley wire, of two contactymembers associated therewith, a circuit-closing contact, and means rendered operative by a trolley passing over the trolley wire to move said circuit-closing contact into engagement with the contact members successively in a predetermined time relation.

5. In a contactor, the combination with a supporting member, of a trolley wire suspended therefrom, twov contact members connected to separate circuits, a circuit-closing contact, and means rendered operative by a trolley passing over the trolley wire to move said circuit-closing contact into enagement with the contacts successively and 1n a predetermined time relation.

6. In a contactor, the combination with a supporting member, of an actuating member movably sustained therein, a trolley wire suspended from the actuating member, two contact members connected to separate circuits, a circuit-closing vcontact actuated by the actuating member, and means for closing said circuit-closing contact to engage the two contact members successively and in predetermined time relation regardless of the speed at which the trolley is moving.

7. In a contactor, thecombination with a supporting member, of a trolley wire suspended therefrom, two contact members connected to separate circuits, a circuit-closing contact, means rendered operative by a trolleypassing over the trolley wire to move said circuit-closing contact from one of said Contact members to the other in a predetermined time relation regardless of the speed at which the trolley is passing along the wire.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ROY V. COLLINS. 

